By Hritam Mukherjee
(Reuters) -Indian shares fell for a second straight session on Wednesday, as foreign funds shifted money to China and marquee companies’ results disappointed investors.
The Nifty 50 index closed down 0.34% to 24,971.3 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.39% to 81,501.36.
The Nifty 50 has declined about 5% from a record high hit in the last week of September – when China unveiled its most aggressive measures since the pandemic.
Beijing’s stimulus has shifted the focus of global fund managers to China and foreign investors have pulled out $7.9 billion from Indian stocks so far in October, the highest since March 2020.
That, coupled with a “not-so-encouraging” start to the September-quarter earnings is weighing on sentiment, Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of research at Religare Broking said.
The more domestically-focussed small-caps closed the session flat, while mid-caps shed 0.2%.
Hyundai Motor India’s record $3.3 billion IPO was subscribed 37% as of 3:30 p.m. IST on its second day of share sale.
Heavyweight Reliance Industries’ disappointing results weighed in the previous session, but the oil-focussed conglomerate rebounded 0.8% on the day.
Oil and gas stocks rose 0.23% as crude prices stabilised from a recent slump. [O/R]
IT major Tata Consultancy Services slipped 0.5%, taking its losses since its weak second-quarter earnings last Thursday to more than 3%.
Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto ended 0.8% higher ahead of its quarterly results.
Top Nifty firms like Nestle India, Infosys, Wipro and Axis Bank are due to report their results later this week.
Cochin Shipyard dropped 5% after it said the Indian government will sell a 5% stake at a discount.
($1 = 84.0510 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Savio D’Souza and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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